Waffle Irons | Golden Skate

Waffle Irons

JonnyCoop

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
OK, so as part of my grandmother's "estate" I inherited a waffle iron (rather an old one, I'd say mid-60's.). I've never owned one before and would like to try it out, but there's no manual with it so there's some basics I'm wondering about:

How often do you grease it? Before every "waffle session"? Before every waffle? Or is it like a wok, where [in theory, anyway] you need to only do an initial greasing? How do you know when you need to grease it?

And how do you know it's preheated enough to put the batter in? When the light goes on? When the light goes off? When smoke comes out of it? When the kitchen actually catches fire?

I'm starting to sound like one of those letters that Gilda Radner used to read on Saturday Night Live when she was doing Roseanne Rosanna Danna and she'd end up saying "You sure ask a lot of questions for someone from New Jersey". But any help or tips in this area would be much appreciated.:)
 

babyoscar

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 9, 2004
waffle iron

i have never used one that is that old, but i expect everything ot be the same.

i grease mine every 3-4 waffles, and I use the spray stuff. you can use regular tub butter as well, just use little bit at a time and smear it around. i don't know if the old ones has the teflon inside to prevent sticking, but i guess you will find out soon enough!

so here is what you do: i used the aunt jamianima (spelling?) box thing, you just add water, egg, milk etc. sometimes i will add dried blueberries (or fresh or any fruit) or coca powder! do the mixing, and wait about 5 minutes. if you want a little extra sweetness, add some vanilla extract

turn on the waffle iron right after you done mixing, it will take about 5-10 minutes to heat up. the right light comes on while it is heating. once the red light goes off (hot enough), spray the iron, drop about 1/2 cup of mixture into the iron. close the iron. now the red light will come back on to heat. the iron will now have smoke coming on because the cool mixture is ontop of the hot iron. wait about 5 minutes or so when the smoke (not burnt smoke!) stops, your waffle is ready. i light mine lightly toasted and crunchy. some people like their soft. some people like their real black and burnt. so it might take you a few tries to determine how long to leave it in the waffle. obviously the longer you let it sit in there, the darker/burnt it will get. hope this helps.
 

Piel

On Edge
Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
I used to have my great grandma's....yours sounds like it. Hers was by Sunbeam and you could take the waffle plates out and use it like a griddle........now known as a panini press, LOL.

Granny seasoned hers with solid Crisco, like you would an iron skillet. Even so the first waffle is always a donation to the waffle gods....sticks some and isn't very pretty. Brushing with a little veg oil or melted Crisco won't hurt. Butter OTOH can burn pretty easily. To tell if the iron is hot enough sprinkle with a few drops of water they should dance and disappear. To determine if the waffes were done always seemed like trial and error..............lights weren't real accurate indicators. Depending on how long yours has set without being used you may want to wash the plates and reseason.................old oil residue could be rancid. Hope this helps. another thing is the waffle recipe we use contains melted butter so that heps to prevent sticking too.

So Jonny are you hosting the first GS brunch any time soon:biggrin: ?
 

heyang

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
;) non-burning smoke = steam

Tip from Alton Brown of Good Eats. If you barely cook waffles, you can freeze them and you've got your own 'store-bought toaster waffles'. Just heat them up later like any other Eggo or frozen waffle.
 

JonnyCoop

Record Breaker
Joined
Dec 28, 2003
Piel said:
Depending on how long yours has set without being used you may want to wash the plates and reseason.................old oil residue could be rancid. Hope this helps. another thing is the waffle recipe we use contains melted butter so that heps to prevent sticking too.

So Jonny are you hosting the first GS brunch any time soon:biggrin: ?

Let's just see if I can make a couple of waffles without burning down the whole block first, and then go from there! :rofl:

I am relatively certain the last time this thing was used was probably about 1968. I have "re-seasoned" already (and that was a story unto itself, but everything's under control now) but didn't want to actually make anything until I got further advice about the "cooking process".

Thank all of you for the tips; I'm going to print this thread out and tape it up in the kitchen and see how things go.:) :) :)
 

Jhar55

Medalist
Joined
Jul 27, 2003
Waffle Irons, does anyone use them anymore? ;)
Bet most young kids never heard of them all they know is whats in the frozen food section of the store.
Had one when I was married and used it all the time, much better than the frozen ones.
BTW when you make your waffle batter the directions are little different than for pancakes your batter needs to be little thicker.
 

Kara Bear

Final Flight
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
Mmmm. . . I'm craving waffles now. I think we will have some for supper tonight. Yummy!
 

Wolfgang

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 9, 2006
So yours has lights 'n' stuff, huh?
High-tech......
I have a cast iron one, a little temperamental, definitely takes some time to get used to it, but there's nothing that tastes quite as good as waffles from a cast iron skillet, just like no bread, pizza, or cake that wasn't baked in a brick or stone oven is ever as good!
 

Alsace

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 22, 2004
Jhar55 said:
Waffle Irons, does anyone use them anymore? ;)

At the college I attended (and I haven't been out even a decade), the Belgian waffle iron was the prime attraction in the cafeteria's breakfast offerings.
 

Grgranny

Da' Spellin' Homegirl
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
I'm on my second waffle iron. I was letting myself have one a week but only once a month or so now. I use pancake mix and use buttermilk for the liquid and most of the time, I throw in some frozen blueberries. I just love Belgian waffles. I also love real maple syrup. I am suppose to use sugar free syrup but I fudge and pour a little maple syrup in it. Smuckers sugar free syrup seems to be the best sugar free syrup. None of them are good. I still have my old square 4 waffle iron but just use it when kids are home and not often then. I haven't tried any Belgian waffle recipes. They use yeast and I can't wait that long to eat in the mornings. Actually, sometimes sugar free jelly will work. They are better than the sugar free syrup. If you need to use sugar free, check the labels. Sometimes the sugar free has more sugar than the regular. I actually, most of the time, try to get by on the regular and try to go easy on it.
 
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